Vims Breaking Ground Friday For Andrews Hall

GLOUCESTER POINT — The complex will be dedicated to biological, physical and fisheries sciences, as well as seawater research.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science's new Marine Research Complex will be 4-5 p.m. Friday on the VIMS campus at Gloucester Point.

When completed in 2007, the complex will consist of Andrews Hall, with 71,000 square feet of space for programs in biological, physical and fisheries sciences, and a 46,000-square-foot seawater research laboratory.

During the ceremony Andrews Hall will be formally named honoring Cynthia Andrews and the late state Sen. Hunter B. Andrews for their support and advocacy of VIMS.

Special guests and speakers will include Cynthia Andrews; John Wells, VIMS dean and director; Gene R. Nichol, president of the College of William and Mary; Susan A. Magill, rector of the W&M Board of Visitors; Del. Harvey R. Morgan, R-Middlesex; W. Tayloe Murphy Jr., secretary of natural resources; and Robert Bloxom, secretary of agriculture and forestry.

After the ceremony there will be a reception and exhibits on display highlighting various programs to be housed in the new building.

Andrews Hall will include 39 laboratories, 25 faculty offices and space for almost 100 students, technicians and visiting scientists. The four-story building will include an electronics shop, distance-learning classroom, conference rooms and the aquaculture genetics and breeding technology center. It will consolidate programs from biological, physical and fisheries sciences by replacing three outdated laboratory buildings and numerous converted former single-family dwellings.

The seawater research laboratory, fed by an intake at the end of a 600-foot York River pier, will provide 800 gallons per minutes of treated seawater to support state-mandated research on finfish and shellfish.

Funding for the complex is provided largely through a higher education bond passed by Virginia voters in 2002. *